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make more milk

Previously I had a big problem with oversupply and an overactive letdown.
Now, my son has just hit 3 months, I'm back at work, and am not pumping as much as my friends with similarly aged babies.
They tell me they can pump 8 ounces plus, every 2 hours.
I can only pump around 5 at that same interval.
They both have a lot of excess that they can store each day, while my measely 10 ounces MUST be supplemented with formula in order to make DesiBears required 16 ounces ( bottle feeding while at work ).

I don't get it.
I nurse EVERY chance I get; between pt and work, on lunch, evenings, nights and weekends but I still don't make gallons like my friends do.

...I need some advice, because I'm tired of supplementing with formula. I want to be able to pump those required 16 ounces.

It's easy enough to say " stop supplementing ", but if I don't, he's left with 10 ounces, which he can easily devour between 0900 & 1200.

Re: make more milk

Your friends are lucky. It's rare for women to produce that much milk that quickly. I'm willing to bet that eventually their output will decrease to something closer to the more typical 1.5 oz per hour. Most women who pump every 3 hours are getting 2-4 oz of milk.

When moms have trouble meeting their babies' bottle requirements, the best things they can do are to remove more milk from the breast more often. That often means upgrading your pump, shortening your pumping intervals (say, every 2 hours instead of every 3), and sometimes even pumping outside of work, after baby has fed.

Re: make more milk

Pumping five ounces every two hours is pretty great output. Most moms would be thrilled to get that much!

How long are you at work? I ask because 16 ounces is quite a bit for a little one to be taking in. The general rule is 1-1.5 ounces per hour that you're away. Which, if you're working 10+ hours a day would make sense, but then I would assume you'd be pumping more than twice a day. It actually sounds to me like your little one is getting over-fed, which is easy to do with a bottle. I would look at reducing the amount he's taking in, rather than trying to pump more. Mainly because it sounds like you're doing everything you can to increase your supply and, like I said, 5 oz per session is an abundant output. The other option, that you might want to do in addition to trying to reduce intake, would be to add in another pumping session at some point during the day or maybe in the evening after he's gone to sleep.

Here's a really good article about bottlefeeding the breastfed baby that you might want to check out and maybe share with your care providers to make sure they aren't overfeeding.

“We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
--Anonymous

Re: make more milk

Originally Posted by @llli*still.here

Pumping five ounces every two hours is pretty great output. Most moms would be thrilled to get that much!

How long are you at work? I ask because 16 ounces is quite a bit for a little one to be taking in. The general rule is 1-1.5 ounces per hour that you're away. Which, if you're working 10+ hours a day would make sense, but then I would assume you'd be pumping more than twice a day. It actually sounds to me like your little one is getting over-fed, which is easy to do with a bottle. I would look at reducing the amount he's taking in, rather than trying to pump more. Mainly because it sounds like you're doing everything you can to increase your supply and, like I said, 5 oz per session is an abundant output. The other option, that you might want to do in addition to trying to reduce intake, would be to add in another pumping session at some point during the day or maybe in the evening after he's gone to sleep.

Here's a really good article about bottlefeeding the breastfed baby that you might want to check out and maybe share with your care providers to make sure they aren't overfeeding.

I go from 0500-0500.
At 0500, we wake up together and I nurse before PT.
I get back from PT at around 0720-- and we nurse again.
work then starts at 0900 and i pump at 1000.
I pump at 1000 instead of 0900 because lunch is at 1130, and at that time I go home to nurse rather than pump at 9 and then 11.
I get back from lunch at 1300, so we nurse from 1145- as long as he wants.
I pump again at 1400 (2 pm) and we usually leave at 1630, then i nurse from then on.
so that's why it comes down to pumping twice.

Re: make more milk

That's great you are able to nurse him at lunchtime! But I really think that if he's taking 16 ounces in addition to you nursing him at lunchtime you need to talk with the care providers about how much he is being fed.

Are the bottles they are giving large? Babies tend to drink from a bottle until it's empty because it's a constant flow, unlike nursing fromt he breast where the flow comes and goes. Sometimes if you break up the bottles into smaller increments, like 2-3 ounces with a couple of 1-2 ounce top-off bottles, it gives the baby a natural break where they have time to stop and breathe, maybe burp and decide whether they are really still hungry.

You might also want to make sure you are using slow-flow nipples, which will make feedings take longer, satisfying the urge to suck. If your nipples have been used and washed many times they may not be slow-flow anymore (even if they started that way). You can check them by filling them with water. The water should drip once per second if they are slow-flow.

“We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
--Anonymous